Blog: Tagged 'Interior Space Planning'

Color and graphics are compelling design elements which establish character and identity by developing a story unique to each facility. Whether you’re designing a new facility from the ground up or looking to renovate or update an existing one, attention to interior details of your facility will help ensure success.

Customizing spaces through the use of color and interpretive imagery specific to the location establishes a connection between patrons and the facility. Not only do these elements create a visual connection, but they evoke particular feelings and emotions, establishing a visceral connection as well. When patrons feel a connection to the building, they will choose to return time and time again. Following are six ways in which simple color and graphic concepts can be used to define and enhance the design of your facility:

Color is also a communication device. The brightly-colored walls at Olathe Community Center serve as an effective wayfinding tool, guiding people through the building by marking circulation and identifying destinations.

The graphic application of color on large wall areas of gyms and natatoriums is a striking and economical way to visually enliven and energize large-volume spaces and expansive walls. The application of painted sound absorption panels on walls of the gymnasium at Kroc Salem creates colorful, simple graphic patterning.

NUMBER 2: ICONIC ELEMENTS
In almost every facility location, there are easily recognizable and identifiable natural or cultural elements. This kind of connection is important because it bolsters the idea of a facility belonging to a particular location and creates a place in which the community comes together to socialize and recreate. For example at Kroc Coeur d’Alene, the tamarack larch is an indigenous tree to the region, and the branch structure of this tree became the inspiration for the all of the detailing in the facility.

NUMBER 3: PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES
The use of large format digital prints is another method to add color and graphic imagery to facility spaces. At the Paul Derda Recreation Center in Broomfield, Colorado, the design concept for the project was where the mountains meet the plains. A local photographer’s images of the mountains and the plains reinforces this design concept in large images on the wall in the natatorium and the lobby.

NUMBER 4: THEMES
Theming in a facility, and particularly in those areas focused toward children, is a method for successfully engaging different age groups. The child watch area at Gypsum Recreation Center is airplane themed.

NUMBER 5: ACTIVITY GRAPHICS
Recreation Centers are hubs of activity and the actions and movements created as a result make perfect design features within a facility. Kroc Augusta is an example of using large images of water elements and swimmers to enhance the interiors of the natatorium.

NUMBER 6: HISTORICAL ELEMENTS
Incorporating a community’s history is a simple and direct way to link the past and the present by highlighting locations, events and people that have shaped them. These graphics can be informative, educational, emotional and decorative but are appreciated by visitors and locals alike. Kroc Green Bay features a history wall to connect the building back to the community.

Color and graphics are great design tools to help shape spaces and create unique and expressive facilities that truly represent their location. It’s never too early or too late in the process to consider the interior design elements of your facility as an imperative part of its success. Whether you have a large budget or are looking for an economical solution, some simple graphics and strategically placed color will not only help to draw patrons into your facility and navigate them throughout, but also serve to establish a connection between them, encouraging their likely return.

Video presentation happens everywhere, everyday. Whether it’s a PowerPoint presentation, promotional video or detailed architectural floor plan, it’s important that all viewers can clearly see the content in order for the presentation to be effective. An increasing number of organizations are implementing their own display solutions, due in part to the availability of high-quality, cost-effective displays through local “big box” retailers. When it’s time to make that purchase, how do you know if you’re buying the appropriate screen size?

While we always recommend consulting with a professional before purchasing technology, a few straightforward rules of thumb can help ensure that if you take on the responsibility of acquiring a display for your office or facility, you are selecting a functional product.

The first thing to consider is the most common content that will be viewed on the display. We break content into three main categories: video, PowerPoint, and detailed drawings/text. These categories are based largely on the amount of detail present. For example, it is much easier to glance at a display from across a room and discern that the video shows a bird landing in a nest, rather than observe that your Q1 2014 sales had increased by $52,344.22 over 2013’s. In between those two content detail extremes lies the PowerPoint presentation. Although these presentations typically consist of a combination of text and graphics, a good PowerPoint presentation provides an overview or outline of the subject matter and doesn’t present a high degree of detail. As such, it ends up being the middle ground in terms of ease of viewing.

To help determine the appropriate display size, the amount of detail contained in a presentation will be represented using the following “content factors”:

Video = 8

PowerPoint = 6

Detailed Drawings/Text = 4

The second consideration is distance. In the previous example, the viewer must move closer to the display to clearly read the content of the sales reports. In other words, the closer the viewer is to the display, the more content detail he/she will be able to discern. If the new display is to be located in a conference room, measure the distance between the location of your display and the position occupied by the most distant viewer. By knowing this distance and the type of content most often displayed, the necessary display height can be calculated using the simple formula:

Recalling the content factors, this formula translates to the most distant viewer being located no more than eight times the display height away for video, six times the display height for PowerPoint presentations, and no more than four times the display height away for viewing detailed text.

Let’s look at an example. A small, 20’ x 14’ conference room is used frequently for “lunch and learn” presentations. A flat screen display is desired for presentation purposes, and it will be located on the front 14’ wall. A rectangular conference table is present, and the seat farthest from the display is located 16’ away. How tall must the display be in order to accurately view the presentation content from this seat?

Be aware that this height refers to the viewable image height and not the overall height of the display hardware. Also note that display manufacturers classify their products by image diagonal, and not by image height. A 31.2” height is likely to be found on a 65” display, so you’ll want to look at the specific product’s specifications prior to purchase.

If the room is sufficiently large, it is possible that your calculations will reveal a recommended minimum height that is greater than that provided by any currently available flat screen display. At this point, different display technologies such as projection or display walls may be considered.

Keep in mind that this formula is about establishing a basic guideline and getting you “in the zone” for acceptable viewing based on content. While there are many other variables (resolution, room lighting levels, type of display technology, etc.) that go into proper presentation system design, understanding how to size a display is critical and can help you avoid at least one common pitfall when implementing a presentation system display.

This blog entry was guest written by Deb Britton, CEO and Founding Principal at K2 Audio, a women-owned audiovisual/acoustics consulting firm based in Boulder. In addition to consulting for a wide variety of clients including the U.S. Senate and Disney, Deb has presented seminars on audio networking, “green” AV design, and acoustics, and has lectured to groups for women in engineering. Earlier in her career, Deb taught acoustics at Berklee College of Music in Boston. She currently sits on the InfoComm International Board of Directors and is an active member of SMPS Colorado. K2 Audio is currently working with BRS on the UCCS Student Health & Wellness Center.

The following is the third and final installation of an article Craig Bouck recently authored for The Journal on Active Aging.

Envision the Future Active-Aging Center
Now that the issues have been identified, the next step in envisioning a new generation of active-aging adult centers is to imagine facilities with spaces designed to be relevant and vital to aging adults.

Distance-Learning Facilities
Continuing education has always been an important focus of adult centers. Course offerings, however, have generally been limited to the expertise available locally within each community. If an adult center happens to be in a large metropolitan area or in a college town, direct access to excellent instructors may not be an issue. But the next best thing is a distance-learning classroom. These are simply classrooms or multipurpose rooms outfitted with special audio, video and computer equipment that enables interactive participation with an offsite instructor. Offerings can include training sessions, lectures, workshops, art classes, or any kind of educational gathering. In addition to connecting with an individual speaker, these kinds of computer set-ups bring center users the potential to interact with groups of people from around the world.

Collaboration Space
Staying active for many older adults may include working, volunteering, mentoring or consulting. If they are doing this independently, they often need space for collaboration with others. The active-aging adult center can become a place which fosters this collaboration by providing special rooms outfitted with tables, chairs, marker boards and a large, flat-panel monitor. Multiple outlets and inputs for laptops or tablets allow participants to research, create and share digital data.

Living Libraries
In the spirit of sharing, active-aging centers can become a host for Living Libraries. Older adults have a lifetime of accumulated knowledge and experiences which largely go untapped, especially after they retire. Started in Denmark in 2000, the Living Library concept is an opportunity to connect people who want information on a particular topic with human resources in their community. Participants publish interests, beliefs or experiences they are willing to share and offer to be “checked out” by community members for 30-minute conversations. A center that offers this type of program could bring multiple generations together and periodically transform an underutilized lounge, library or reading room into a vibrant social area.

Internet Access and Tech Support
In 2012 the Pew Research Center reported that, for the first time, half of American adults age 65 and older are going online. Additionally, one-third of users age 65 and older use social networking, and 69% of seniors have mobile phones. Can an active-aging adult center ever replace the local Starbucks as the go-to cyber café with free Wi-Fi? Maybe not, but it seems safe to say that this trend will continue and suggests that our next generation of older adults will be more connected than ever before, expecting to have the same free access to the Internet at their center that they experience daily in the retail world.

Adult centers can borrow other ideas from the retail world, as well. In another 2012 report, the Pew Research Center noted that among adults age 50 and over, 37% use e-readers, 28% have tablets and 47% own smartphones. This presents an opportunity to help support older adults who have growing interest in mobile, content-rich devices. Perhaps the next generation of centers will include a mobile device bar, not unlike the service counter at an Apple™ retail outlet. The difference is that this support bar would be staffed by older adults. Empathetic peer volunteers can offer advice on devices, how-to lessons, and recommendations on applications and content. If it is located strategically, the bar can double as a serving or gathering area for social events when not in use as a mobile device help center.

Digital Equipment and Experiences
Every day it seems there are new gadgets and software applications that make recording, editing and publishing digital creations easier and more intuitive. That being said, many of the self-directed and produced movies and songs are crude and low-quality. This is often due in equal parts to inferior recording equipment, overly simplistic software and lack of training. One solution to attract users interested in improving their digital skills is for adult centers to create a digital multimedia lab. Outfitted with good-quality video cameras, sound recording equipment, software and computers, such a space will become the digital version of the traditional arts and crafts room.

Another technology-driven innovation is the virtual active-aging center. Originally a demonstration project between Microsoft and Selfhelp Community Services, Inc., easy-to-use video conferencing equipment is installed in residences of homebound adults and in local adult centers. The mobile units are then positioned in various classrooms throughout the day, enabling the adults to participate interactively with fitness and educational classes, all from home.

Pools and Gyms
Specialized fitness areas continue to evolve to meet the needs of active-aging clientele. One of the most significant changes has been in the evolution of warm water exercise pools. Originally conceived as a place for physical therapy, warm water pools have grown in size and features to offer much more variety to older adults who are interested in incorporating water into their personal exercise programs, which is attractive because the buoyant quality of water reduces wear and tear on joints. Common now are water current channels that offer exercise opportunities to walk both with and against a variable current and group exercise areas for water aerobics and movement classes. Emerging in these pools are areas for water exercise equipment, including treadmills and bicycles, and water workout stations equipped with resistive exercise bands. Individual benches built into the pool walls allow personalized control of hydrotherapy jets.

Gymnasiums and fitness rooms are also evolving and adapting to the shifting needs of older adults. No longer are full-length basketball courts necessary or even desirable. While many older adults are still passionate about competitive sports, smaller courts are more forgiving to aging knees and shoulder joints. Well-designed multipurpose gymnasiums accommodate a wide variety of activities, including basketball, volleyball, pickleball and indoor soccer. Nets lowered from the ceiling accommodate golf and batting practice. Combining all these activities into a single space can lead to a confusing array of court lines. Fortunately, innovative flooring manufacturers are experimenting with new court flooring products that include embedded LED lights to allow court lines to be switched off and on depending on the sport being played. This helps decrease confusion while still accommodating a full list of activities.

Innovative Design Concepts for the Next Generations
Active-aging centers must be designed to attract the Baby Boomer generation and help keep them in the community. Beyond adapting to accommodate physical changes, it will be necessary to consider technological advances that will influence the amenity spaces in your centers. From aquatic recreation to virtual learning classrooms, this generation of aging adults will rely more than ever before on innovative resources as a necessity in their lives.

In order to plan for these solutions, adult center operators must consider funding and demographic issues to stay ahead of the curve when planning new facilities or upgrades to existing ones. With proper planning and coordination with the right design team, it is possible to attract this influential group of people to your community and keep them actively engaged.

The following is the second installation of an article Craig Bouck recently authored for The Journal on Active Aging. We will release the full contents of the article over the next several months in a series of blog posts.

Where is the second place? The home is the “first place,” and for many people who are retired, “second places” are informal meeting places for social interaction that become anchors of their community life. Second places can be barber shops, hair salons, bars, restaurants, libraries, parks and—hopefully—adult centers. For the next-generation active-aging center to become truly relevant, it should strive to become a second place—a place for engaging social activity.

How can centers achieve this goal? Start with the overall look and feel of the facility, which should create a warm, welcoming and comfortable atmosphere—a place you want to be. A visitor’s first impression should include a friendly face, and the center must offer a variety of spaces both indoors and out that invite informal gathering and interaction. These inviting spaces could be living rooms, sunrooms, libraries, porches, patios and garden spaces. A center might consider adding small social areas outside of fitness rooms—classrooms and locker rooms where people can meet before and after activities.

Funding sources shift: Traditionally, senior centers have been supported primarily by tax dollars. At the same time, many older adults, especially those on fixed incomes, traditionally resist tax increases. Demographics suggest that as we move into an unprecedented era with the largest population of aging adults in history seeking services, we will also have fewer Boomers in the workforce to provide the necessary tax income. The result is likely to be less emphasis on income tax revenue and a greater emphasis on property and sales taxes to support active-aging centers.

The net effect of funding pressures and extraordinary demand may be a fundamental shift to a pay-for-service model in lieu of free (or heavily discounted) services to cover operational expenses. In this model, the cost of an activity will increase with an increase in personal benefit. In other words, a space or activity that has equal benefit to all, like a lounge area, is a community benefit, and the cost would be shared by the entire community as a subsidy. An activity with a personal benefit, like a yoga class, is an individualized benefit, and the cost would be borne solely by the participants.

New priorities – times and activities: It used to be that centers could schedule activities geared toward older adults during the center’s “off” or “slow” hours. Times have changed, and many older adults today are busy working or volunteering during the day and need facilities to be open longer hours in the evenings and weekends. In addition, shifts in preferences mean Boomers are no longer filling existing passive recreation spaces, so these need to be converted to active recreation areas to meet the growing demand for those types of activities. Older adults have many options for their time, and they are much less dependent on the senior center for offers of trips, performances and group activities.

Ages spread across generations: While often lumped into a single category called “seniors,” the active aging service provider will have a customer base ranging in age from 50 to more than 90 years old. Satisfying a group with an age spread this wide requires a greater segregation of activities, which means more offerings are needed. Limited resources, however often mean these additional activities must be offered without additional funding, staff or space. Unfortunately, this reality means people at both ends of the age spectrum tend to get squeezed out and have fewer appropriate activities. Serving the most may necessitate not serving everyone.

Stand-alone vs. integrated facilities: Should active aging adult centers be built as stand-alone facilities or be integrated into multi-generational recreation centers? An intergenerational center provides spaces for both youth and older adults, with a priority system for utilizing the space. No one approach will work for all communities, but financial pressures are driving communities toward a potentially more cost effective integrated approach. Significant savings can be achieved when centers share expenses for land, site development, and utility services. Additionally, ongoing operational costs can be reduced by sharing utilities, staffing, security, maintenance and advertising. Sharing space, however, can also have disadvantages. If youth programs generate more revenue, then older adult programs may lose out and have less access to spaces and equipment.

The following is the first installation of an article Craig Bouck recently authored for The Journal on Active Aging. We will release the full contents of the article over the next several months in a series of blog posts.

As the youngest Baby Boomers turn 50 next year, the population group that has driven culture and commerce in the United States for the past six decades is redefining what it means to grow old. To appeal to this influential group, “senior centers” are now referred to as “active-aging centers” or “Boomer centers.”

However, focusing only on the change in name might cause us to miss what really makes these centers unique from others in the community. Are these simply age-restricted community recreation centers, or is there an opportunity for a truly new paradigm in recreation facilities? As we look at the issues and concerns surrounding this issue, one fact definitely must be addressed: in order to remain relevant to the Boomer generation, active-aging center designs must adapt and change.

The first step toward new, relevant active-aging centers is understanding some of the issues and concerns facing current center operators as they look toward the future. Last year we reached out to seven veteran managers responsible for facilities constructed over the last 35 years. What follows are several of the most pressing issues and concerns based on our conversations.

How will we attract Boomers? The key to remaining relevant to the next generation of aging adults is to understand how society’s perception of aging continues to shift. For decades, senior centers have been associated with purely passive activities—classes, games, arts and crafts, and productions for music and drama. Senior centers have been for seniors, and we believed that being a senior meant someone who no longer has an “active” lifestyle. But campaigns like ICAA’s Changing the Way We Age® are helping older adults understand how they can continue to make significant contributions to society—going back to work if they wish, gaining new knowledge, learning new activities and being physically active. Aging Boomers want to associate with active pursuits as long as possible.

In response, operators catering to older adults have made efforts to rebrand their facilities and services, often completely removing the word “senior” from their vocabulary. Many facilities have changed their name to “adult center” to lose the senior center stigma even while maintaining their intended clientele focus. Centers now need spaces now for technology classrooms, fitness centers, gymnasiums, walking tracks, warm water swimming pools as well as wellness and therapy rooms.

How do we keep retired people in the community? When retired people leave the community, it not only loses potential customers and tax revenue, but also a potential labor force and accumulated knowledge—commonly called a “brain drain.” Many factors influence a person’s decision about where to live after retirement. Some factors, like proximity to family and climate, are out of the control of any community planners; however, community leaders can directly influence other factors, including cost of living, access to healthcare and transportation, housing quality and cost, safety, work opportunities, and quality leisure and recreational amenities. The most important step in keeping retired people in the community is specifically adapting facilities and opportunities to cater to today’s aging adult population.

What special accommodations must we have? As reluctant as Boomers may be to accept the physical changes of aging, providing a few special accommodations in adult centers can increase their enjoyment and help remove participation barriers. Specialized fitness equipment can help support an attitude of being fit, not first. That is, equipment should be designed less for training for competition and more for helping maintain body strength and balance and reducing the risk of injury.

Varying levels of hearing loss may occur as people age. Because of this change, the acoustical quality of a room directly affects our experience. In addition to installing sound-absorbing acoustical treatments that reduce reverberation and sound distortion, many facilities are installing induction hearing loop systems, which magnetically transmit sound to hearing aids. Intelligibility is greatly increased because the distance between the speaker and the listener(s) is bridged and background environmental noise is reduced.